The surprising thing about Arnaud Montebourg's departure from the French government after he criticised the cabinet's economic austerity policies is that the controversial economy minister survived for so long.
The 51-year-old has been a thorn in the side of François Hollande ever since the Socialist president was elected in May 2012. In Montebourg's first incarnation as industrial recovery minister, the proud initiator of a "Made in France" campaign was never short of a controversial soundbite. He told the steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal in November 2012 that "we no longer want Mittal in France" amid high stakes negotiations aimed at keeping blast furnaces at Florange afloat.
In February last year he got into a public spat with the CEO of a US tyre-maker who had declined to invest in France because of the "lazy" workforce, which he said only worked for three hours per day.
But he also turned his guns on his own side. In open warfare with the "ultra-liberal" policies of then economy minister Pierre Moscovici, Montebourg was promoted into his rival's job against all odds in a pact with the reformist prime minister Manuel Valls, who was brought in last March. However, since then he has refused to pipe down and his public outbursts since last week have clearly been the last straw.
Montebourg's private and professional lives have both been turbulent. His former lover, TV presenter Audrey Pulvar, announced their separation in a text message. In February he sued the magazine Paris Match for invading his privacy by publishing photographs of him with the actor Elsa Zylberstein.
